Palma de Majorca, Spain - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived Friday on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, where he was due to meet King Juan Carlos to normalize relations eight months after the monarch told him to shut up.

Chavez and Juan Carlos were scheduled to hold a one-hour meeting in the Marivent palace in the Majorca capital Palma, where the royal family is on holiday.

The meeting was to mark a final reconciliation between Spain and Venezuela after relations cooled following an unusual diplomatic incident at an Ibero-American summit in Chile in November.

Chavez called former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar a fascist and repeatedly interrupted current Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, prompting Juan Carlos to snap at him: "Why don't you shut up?"

The words instantly became a catchphrase in the Spanish-speaking world, where they were even turned into a mobile phone ring tone. T- shirts displaying the slogan are still for sale in Madrid.

Chavez threatened to freeze relations with Spain, but diplomats have patiently worked on mending them, with Zapatero meeting the Venezuelan leader in May and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visiting him in June.

Juan Carlos has not given Chavez the requested apology, but the Venezuelan finally said he wanted to give the king a hug - with the latter knowing, he added, that "I will not shut up."

After meeting Juan Carlos, Chavez was scheduled to travel to Madrid for talks with Zapatero. (dpa)